SEO Optimization

Google Summaries

Google Ranking Factors - SEO Checklist There are "over 200 SEO factors" that Google uses to rank pages in the Google search results (SERPs). What are the search engine optimization rules? Here is the speculation - educated guesses by SEO webmasters on top webmaster forums. Should you wish to achieve a high ranking, the various confirmed and suspected Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Rules are listed below. Google Ranking Factor Checklist 1. Positive ON-Page SEO Factors. 2. Negative ON-Page SEO Factors. 3. Positive OFF-Page SEO Factors. 4. Negative OFF-Page SEO Factors. Brief Google Update List The Sand Box Your Google Ad Words Ad Here . The SEO Rules listed below are NOT listed by weight, and not by any presumed relevance - THAT exercise is left up to the reader!

1. Alleged POSITIVE ON-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (38) (Keeping in mind the converse, of course, that when violated, some of these factors immediately jump into the NEGATIVE On-Page Ranking Factors domain.) The term "Keyword" below refers to the "Keyword Phrase", which can be one word or more. Green rows confirmed by Google patent - updated 08-10-06

Note - Patent Claim #	Factor #	POSITIVE ON-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
50		KEYWORDS	Google patent - Topic extraction For keyword selection, try Overture - Google Ad Words - Google Trends
HOT	1	Keyword in URL	First word is best, second is second best, etc.
HOT	2	Keyword in Domain name	Same as in page-name-with-hyphens
		Keywords - Header
HOT	3	Keyword in Title tag	Keyword in Title tag - close to beginning Title tag 10 - 60 characters, no special characters.
-	4	Keyword in Description meta tag	Shows theme - less than 200 chars. Google no longer "relies" upon this tag, but will often use it.
-	5	Keyword in Keyword metatag	Shows theme - less than 10 words. Every word in this tag MUST appear somewhere in the body text. If not, it can be penalized for irrelevance. No single word should appear more than twice. If not, it may be considered spam. Google purportedly no longer uses this tag, but others do.
		Keywords - Body
-	6	Keyword density in body text	5 - 20% - (all keywords/ total words) Some report topic sensitivity - the keyword spamming threshold % varies with the topic.
-	7	Individual keyword density	1 - 6% - (each keyword/ total words)
HOT	8	Keyword in H1, H2 and H3	Use Hx font style tags appropriately
-	9	Keyword font size	"Strong is treated the same as bold, italic is treated the same as emphasis" . . . Matt Cutts July 2006
-	10	Keyword proximity (for 2+ keywords)	Directly adjacent is best
-	11	Keyword phrase order	Does word order in the page match word order in the query? Try to anticipate query, and match word order.
-	12	Keyword prominence (how early in page/tag)	Can be important at top of page, in bold, in large font
		Keywords - Other
-	13	Keyword in alt text	Should describe graphic - Do NOT fill with spam (Was part of Google Florida OOP - tripped a threshold - may still be in effect to some degree as a red flag, when summed with all other on-page optimization - total page optimization score - TPOS).
-	14	Keyword in links to site pages (anchor text)	Links out anchor text use keyword?
		NAVIGATION - INTERNAL LINKS
SITE	15	To internal pages- keywords?	Link should contain keywords. The filename "linked to" should contain the keywords. Use hyphenated filenames, but not long ones - two or three hyphens only.
SITE	16	All Internal links valid?	Validate all links to all pages on site. Use a free link checker. I like this one.
SITE	17	Efficient - tree-like structure	TRY FOR two clicks to any page - no page deeper than 4 clicks
SITE	18	Intra-site linking	Appropriate links between lower-level pages
54		NAVIGATION - OUTGOING LINKS
55	19	To external pages- keywords?	Google patent - Link only to good sites. Do not link to link farms. CAREFUL - Links can and do go bad, resulting in site demotion. Unfortunately, you must devote the time necessary to police your outgoing links - they are your responsibility.
56	20	Outgoing link Anchor Text	Google patent - Should be on topic, descriptive
61, 62	21	Link stability over time	Google patent - Avoid "Link Churn"
-	22	All External links valid?	Validate all links periodically.
-	23	Less than 100 links out total	Google says limit to 100, but readily accepts 2-3 times that number. ref 2k
		OTHER ON-Page Factors
-	24	Domain Name Extension Top Level Domain - TLD	.gov sites seem to be the highest status .edu sites seem to be given a high status .org sites seem to be given a high status .com sites excel in encompassing all the spam/ crud sites, resulting in the need for the highest scrutiny/ action by Google. Perhaps one would do well with the new .info domain class. - Nope. Spammers jumped all over it - no safe haven there. Not so much, now - .info sites can rank highly.
-	25	File Size	Try not to exceed 100K page size (however, some subject matter, such as this page, requires larger file sizes). Smaller files are preferred <40k>
	26	Hyphens in URL	Preferred method for indicating a space, where there can be no actual space One or two= excellent for separating keywords (i.e., pet-smart, pets-mart) Four or more= BAD, starts to look spammy Ten = Spammer for sure, demotion probable?
6, 7 12, 13	27	Freshness of Pages	Google patent - Changes over time Newer the better - if news, retail or auction! Google likes fresh pages. So do I.
8, 9	28	Freshness - Amount of Content Change	New pages - Ratio of old pages to new pages
27	29	Freshness of Links	Google patent - May be good or bad Excellent for high-trust sites May not be so good for newer, low-trust sites
-	30	Frequency of Updates	Frequent updates = frequent spidering = newer cache
-	31	Page Theming	Page exhibit theme? General consistency?
-	32	Keyword stemming	Stem, stems, stemmed, stemmer, stemming, stemmist, stemification
-	33	Applied Semantics	Synonyms, CIRCA white paper
-	34	LSI	Latent Semantic Indexing - Speculation, no proof
-	35	URL length	Keep it minimized - use somewhat less than the 2,000 characters allowed by IE - less than 100 is good, less is even better
		OTHER ON-SITE Factors
5	36	Site Size - Google likes big sites	Larger sites are presumed to be better funded, better organized, better constructed, and therefore better sites. Google likes LARGE sites, for various reasons, not all positive. This has resulted in the advent of machine-generated 10,000-page spam sites - size for the sake of size. Google has caught on and dumped millions of pages, or made them supplemental.
4	37	Site Age	Google patent - Old is best. Old is Golden.
3	38	Age of page vs. age of site	Age of page vs. age of other pages on site Newer pages on an older site will get faster recognition.
	Note: For ALL the POSITIVE On-Page factors listed above, PAGE RANK can OVERRIDE them all. So can Google-Bombing. Top of page

2. Alleged Negative ON-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (24)

Note	Factor #	NEGATIVE ON-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
BAD	39	Text presented in graphics form only No ACTUAL body text on the page	Text represented graphically is invisible to search engines.
BAD	40	Affiliate site?	The Florida update went after affiliates with a vengeance - flower and travel affiliates were hit hard - cookie-cutter sites with massive inter-linking, but little unique content. Subsequent updates have also targeted affiliates.
BAD	41	Over optimization penalty (OOP)	Penalty for over-compliance with well-established, accepted web optimization practices. Too high keyword repetition (keyword stuffing) may get you the OOP. Overuse of H1 tags has been mentioned. Meta-tag stuffing.
BAD	42	Link to a bad neighborhood	Don't link to link farms, FFAs (Free For All's) Also, don't forget to check the Google status of EVERYONE you link to periodically. A site may go "bad", and you can end up being penalized, even though you did nothing. For instance, some failed real estate sites have been switched to p0rn by unscrupulous webmasters, for the traffic. This is not good for you, if you are linking to the originally legitimate URL.
BAD	43	Redirect thru refresh metatags	Don't immediately send your visitor to another page other than the one he/ she clicked on, using meta refresh.
BAD	44	Vile language - ethnic slur	Including the George Carlin 7 bad words you can't say on TV, plus the 150 or so that followed. Don't shoot yourself right straight in the foot. Also, avoid combinations of normal words, which when used together, become something else entirely - such as the word juice, and the word l0ve. See why I wrote that zero? I don't even want to get a proximity penalty, either. Paranoia, or caution? You decide. I always want to try to put my "best foot forward".
BAD	45	Poison words	The word "Links" in a title tag has been suggested to be a bad idea. Here is my list of Poison Words for Adsense. This penalty has been loosened - many of these words now appear in normal context, with no problems. But watch your step.
BAD	46	Excessive cross-linking	- within the same C block (IP=xxx.xxx.CCC.xxx) If you have many sites (>10, author's guess) with the same web host, prolific cross-linking can indicate more of a single entity, and less of democratic web voting. Easy to spot, easy to penalize. "This does not apply to a small number of sites" .. (this author guesses the number 10, JAWG) . . . "hosted on a local server". . Matt Cutts July 2006
BAD	47	Stealing images/ text blocks from another domain	Copyright violation - Google responds strongly if you are reported. ref egol File Google DMCA
BAD	48	Keyword stuffing threshold	In body, meta tags, alt text, etc. = demotion
??	49	Keyword dilution	Targeting too many unrelated keywords on a page, which would detract from theming, and reduce the importance of your REALLY important keywords.
??	50	Page edit - can reduce consistency	Google patent - Google is now switching between a "newer" cache, and several "older" caches, frequently drawing from BOTH at the same time. This was possibly implemented to frustrate SERP manipulators. Did your last edit substantially alter your keywords, or theme? Expect noticeable SERP bouncing.
6 - 7	51	Frequency of Content Change	Google patent - Too frequent = bad
32, 33	52	Freshness of Anchor Text	Google patent - Too frequent = bad
??	53	Dynamic Pages	Problematic - know pitfalls - shorten URLs, reduce variables (". . no more than 2 or 3", M.Cutts July 2006), lose the session IDs
??	54	Excessive Javascript	Don't use for redirects, or hiding links
??	55	Flash page - NOT	Most (all-?) SE spiders can't read Flash content Provide an HTML alternative, or experience lower SERP positioning.
??	56	Use of Frames	Spidering Problems with Frames - STILL
-	57	Robot exclusion "no index" tag	Intentional self-exclusion
-	58	Single pixel links	A red flag - one reason only - a sneaky link.
-	59	Invisible text	OK - No penalty - Google advises against this. All over the place - but nothing is ever done. (The text is the same color as the background, and hence cannot be seen by the viewer, but can be visible to the search engine spiders.) I believe Google does penalize for hidden text, since it is an attempt to manipulate rank. Although they don't catch everyone.
-	60	Gateway, doorway page (I see changes here - not only does the doorway page disappear, but the main page gets pushed down, as well - this is a welcome fix.)	OK - No penalty - Google advises against this. Google used to reward these pages. Multiple entrance pages in the top ten SERPs - I see it daily. There they are at #2, with their twin at #5 - 6 months now. Reported numerous times.
-	61	Duplicate content (YOUR'S) Duplicate content (THEIR'S) below (Highjack)	OK - No penalty - Google advises against this. Google picks one (usually the oldest), and shoves it to the top, and pushes the second choice down. This has been a big issue with stolen content - the thief usurps your former position with YOUR OWN content.
-	62	HTML code violations (The big G does not even use DOCTYPE declarations, required for W3C validation.)	Doesn't matter - Google advises against this. Unless of course, the page is totally FUBAR. Simple HTML verification is NOT required (but advised, since it could contribute to your page quality factor - PQF).
-		Since the above 4 items are so controversial, I would like to add this comment: There are many things that Google would LIKE to have webmasters do, but that they simply cannot control, due to logistical considerations. Their only alternative is to foment fear and doubt by implying that any violation of their "suggestions" will result in swift and fierce demotion. (This is somewhat dated - G is fixing these things.)	IN GENERAL, this works pretty well to keep webmasters in line. The fallacy of this is that attentive webmasters can readily observe continuing, blatant exceptions to these official pronouncements. There are many anecdotes about Goggle "taking care" of a problem. Google states that they do not provide hand-tweaked "boosts", but are silent about hand-tweaked demotions. They occur, for sure. To believe otherwise is naive. Wouldn't YOU swat the most obnoxious flies? I would. It is becoming easier to determine the best thing to do. Try to avoid any Google penalties or demotions.
-	119	Phrase-based ranking, filters, penalties	Feb. 2007 - Google patent granted. Do not use phrases that have been associated and correlated with known spamming techniques, or you will be penalized. What phrases? Ahh, you tell me.
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3. Alleged POSITIVE OFF-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (43)

Note	Factor #	POSITIVE OFF-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
		INCOMING LINKS :
HOT	63	Page Rank	Based on the Number and Quality of links to you Google link reporting continues to display just a SMALL fraction of your actual backlinks, and they are NOT just greater than PR4 - they are mixed.
-	64	Total incoming links ("backlinks")	Historically, FAST counted best (www.alltheweb.com). No more - Yahoo (parent) broke it. In Yahoo search, type in: linksite:www.domain-name.com linkdomain:www.domainname.com Try MSN - http://beta.search.msn.com Use link:www.domainname.com Current TYPICAL Backlink Reporting Ratios - Google - 30 links MSN - 1,000 links Yahoo - 3,000 links
-	65	Incoming links from high-ranking pages	In 2004, Google used to count (report) the links from all PR4+ pages that linked to you. In 2005-2006, Google reported only a small fraction of the links, in what seemed like an almost random manner. In Feb. 2007, Google markedly upgraded (increased) the number of links that they report.
-	66	Acceleration of link popularity (". . . used to be a good thing" ... Martha)	Google patent Link acquisition speed boost - speculative Too fast = artificial? Cause of -30 penalty? Sandbox penalty imposed if new site?
		FOR EACH INCOMING LINK :
-	67	Page rank of the referring page	Based on the quality of links to you
HOT	68	Anchor text of inbound link to you	Contains keyword, key phrase? #1 result in SERP does NOT EVEN need to have the keyword(s) on the page, ANYWHERE!!! What does that tell you? (Enables Google-bombing - search for "miserable failure")
	69	Age of link	Google patent - Old = Good.
	70	Frequency of change of anchor text	Google patent - Not good. Why would you do that?
	71	Popularity of referring page	Popularity = desirability, respect
-	72	# of outgoing links on referrer page	Fewer is better - makes yours more important
-	73	Position of link on referrer page	Early in HTML is best
-	74	Keyword density on referring page	For search keyword(s)
-	75	HTML title of referrer page	Same subject/ theme?
28	76	Link from "Expert" site?	Google patent - Big time boost (Hilltop or Condensed Hilltop) Recently reported to give a big boost !
-	77	Referrer page - Same theme	From the same or related theme? BETTER
-	78	Referrer page - Different theme	From different or unrelated theme? WORSE
-	79	Image map link?	Problematic?
-	80	Javascript link?	Problematic- attempt to hide link?
		DIRECTORIES :
HOT	81	Site listed in DMOZ Directory? The "Secret Hand" DMOZ Issues 1. Legitimate sites CAN'T GET IN 2. No Accountability 3. Corrupt Editors 4. Competitive Sites Barred 5. Dirty Tricks Employed 6. Rude dmoz editors Flawed concept - communism doesn't work Free editing? Nothing is free. DMOZ Sucks Discussions DMOZ Problems Discussions The Google Directory is produced by an unknown, ungoverned, unpoliced, ill-intentioned, retaliatory, monopoly enterprise, consisting of profiteering power-ego editors feathering their own nests - the ODP. AOL is making millions, and needs to police it's run-amok entity. Enough already!	This is a tough one. Google's directory comes STRAIGHT from the DMOZ directory. You should try to get into dmoz. But you can't. Be careful whom you approach with the old spondulix - Formal DMOZ Bribe Instructions. It is almost impossible to get into DMOZ. This site cannot get in, after waiting over 2 YEARS (33 months). Not even in the lowest, most insignificant category, "Personal Pages". I guess I just don't "measure up" to the other 20,000+ sites in the personal category. I'm not the suck-up type - I kissed them off long ago. What a waste of time! UPDATE: This page (not site) finally got indexed in June 2007, thanks to a legitimate editor. No money was paid. Google needs to DO SOMETHING about populating its own directory with the skewed, incomplete, poorly determined results from the dysfunctional Open Directory Project - the ODP! Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
-	82	DMOZ category?	Theme fit category? General or geographic category? Both are possible, and acceptable.
HOT	83	Site listed in Yahoo Directory?	Big boost - You can get in by paying $299 each year. Many swear it is worth it - many swear it isn't.
-	84	Site listed in LookSmart Directory?	Boost? Another great vote for your site.
	85	Site listed in inktomi?	Inktomi has been absorbed internally by Yahoo.
-	86	Site listed in other directories (About, etc.)	Directory listing boost (If other RESPECTED directories link to you, this must be positive.)
-	87	Expert site? (Hilltop or Condensed Hilltop)	Large-sized site, quality incoming links
HOT	88	Site Age - Old shows stability	Google patent Boost for long-established sites, new pages indexed easily The opposite of the sand box.
-	89	Site Age - Very New Boost	Temporary boost for very new sites - I estimate that this boost lasts from 1 week to 3 weeks - Yahoo does it too.
-	90	Site Directory - Tree Structure	Influences SERPs - logical, consistent, conventional
-	91	Site Map and more site map	Complete - keywords in anchor text
-	92	Site Size	Previously, many pages preferred - conferred authority upon site, thus page. Bigger sites = better SERPs Now, fewer pages preferred, due to proliferation of computer-generated pages. Google has been dropping pages like crazy.
-	93	Site Theming	Site exhibit theme? Use many related terms? Have you used a keyword suggestion tool? A thesaurus?
		PAGE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR:	Currently implemented through the Google tool bar?
34, 35	94	Page traffic	Google patent - # of visitors, trend
15,16,21	95	Page Selection Rate - CTR	Google patent - How often is a page clicked on?
36, 37	96	Time spent on page	Google patent - Relatively long time = indicates relevance hit
45, 46	97	Did user Bookmark page?	Google patent - Bookmark = Good
47	98	Bookmark add/ removal frequency	Google patent - Recent = Good?
	99	How they left, where they went	Back button, link clicked, etc.
		SITE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR :	Currently implemented through the Google tool bar?
34, 35	100	Site Traffic	Google patent - # of visitors, increasing trend = good
	101	Referrer	Authoritative referrer?
	102	Keyword	Keyword searches used to find you
-	103	Time spent on domain	Relatively long time = indicates relevance hit Add brownie points.
38		DOMAIN OWNER BEHAVIOR :
40	104	Domain Registration Time	Google patent - Domain Expiration Date Register for 5 years, Google knows you are serious. Register for 1 year, is it a throw-away domain?
39	105	Are associated sites legitimate?	Google patent - No spam, ownership, etc.
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4. Alleged NEGATIVE OFF-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (13)

Note	Factor #	NEGATIVE OFF-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
-	120 (added)	Traffic Buying	Have you paid a company for web traffic? It is probably low quality traffic, with a zero conversion rate. Some providers of traffic for traffic's sake may be considered "bad neighborhoods". Can Google discount your traffic (for true popularity), because they know it's mostly phony? Have you read about Traffic Power?
22-29	106	Temporal Link Analysis	In a nut shell, old links are valued, new links are not. This is intended to thwart rapid incoming link accumulation, accomplished through the tactic of link buying. Just one of the sandbox factors.
18	107	Change of Meanings	Query meaning changes over time, due to current events
BAD	108	Zero links to you	You MUST have at least 1 (one) incoming link (back link) from some website somewhere, that Google is aware of, to REMAIN in the index.
BAD	109	Link-buying (Very good IF you don't get caught, but don't do it - when caught, the penalty isn't worth it.)	Google patent - Google hates link-buying, because it corrupts their PR model in the worst way possible. 1. Does your page have links it really doesn't merit? 2. Did you get tons of links in a short time period? 3. Do you have links from high-PR, unrelated sites?
41, 42	110	Prior Site Ranking	Google patent - High = Good
BAD	111	Cloaking	Google promises to Ban! (Presenting one webpage to the search engine spider, and another webpage to everybody else.)
??	112	Links from bad neighborhoods, affiliates	Google says that incoming links from bad sites can't hurt you, because you can't control them. Ideally, this would be true. However, some speculate otherwise, esp., when other associated factors are thrown into the mix, such as web rings.
BAD	113	Penalties - resulting from Domain Hijacking (work with Google to fix)	Should result in IMPRISONMENT, forthwith! Grand Theft, mandatory minimum sentence. The criminal COPIES your entire website, and HOSTS it elsewhere, with . . . a few changes.
-	114	Penalty - Google TOS violation	WMG is the worst offender - gobbles up tons of Google server time by nervous Nellie webmasters. Google even mentions them by name. I think that Google will spank you when you cross the threshold, of say, 100 queries per day for the same term, from the same IP. Google can block your IP. Get a Google API.
??	115	Server Reliability - S/B >99.9%	What is your uptime? Ever notice a daily time when your server is unavailable, like about 1:30 AM? How diligent must Googlebot be? This is the worst reason to get dropped - you just aren't there! An ISP maintenance interruption can cause delisting..
-	116	No more room Pages being dropped from large sites	The 232 problem - Google has hit the 4.3 Gigabyte address space wall. Bull! Google now has over 8 Gigs of indexed pages. Thousands of pages are disappearing from various huge websites, but I think that it is G just cleaning house, by dumping computer-generated pages.
HOT	117	Rank Manipulation by Competitor Attack (1. Content theft causing you to get a duplicate content penalty, even though your content is the original - Google has problems tracking original authorship. People are still stealing my content, but nobody trumps me (in Google) with my own content - hats off to Google.) Examples - Site-Wide Link Attack and 302 Redirect Attack and Hijacker Attack	Impossible by Google definition (except for a few nasty tricks, like making your competition appear to be link spammers) Ideally, there SHOULD be nothing that your competition can do to directly hurt your rankings. However, an astute observer noticed that Google changed their website to read : Old verbiage = "There is nothing a competitor can do to harm your ranking ..." New verbiage = "There is ALMOST nothing a competitor can do ..." An obvious concession that Google thinks that at least some dirty tricks work! Of course, there will always be new ones!
-	118	Bouncing Ball Algorithm	At least 2, and often 3 identifiable Google Search Algos are currently in use, alternating pseudo-randomly through the data centers. G has moved to a daily dance. Multiple changing factors are applied daily. GOOD LUCK NOW on trying to figure things out! IN ADDITION, some the above factors are being "tweaked" daily. Not only are the "weights" of the factors changed, but the formula itself changes. Change is the only constant. An algo change can boost or demote your site. I put this in the negative factors section, because your position is never secure, unless of course, you are huge (PR=7 or greater). If you simply cannot achieve top position, your only alternative to first page SERP exposure may be Google Ad Words (you pay for exposure). Today, I searched for an extremely competitive "2-word term", and I found that NOT ONE of the top ten Google SERPs had even one of the words on the page. YOWSA! Today's theory - when it doesn't matter, anybody can get #1 in a second, if they know the on-page rules. BUT, after a certain "commercial competitive level", the "semantic analysis" algo kicks in, and less becomes more. The keyword density rules are flipped upon their noggins. I think that we are witnessing the evolution of search engine anti-seo sophistication, right before our very eyes. Fun stuff.
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Recent Updates - 2007 Daily ranking. -30 penalty noticed, -350 penalty noticed, -950 penalty noticed 2006 Nov. Unnatural links are anathema to Google SEO - minus 30 SERP positions penalty Aug. Everflux is the rule of the day - many small updates. Sandbox (aging delay) alive and well July 27th update Big Daddy 2005 - Novem. 5 - Jagger 3 Update Nov.10 all done - settling out. October 26 - Jagger 2 Update More SERPs churning - OLD is highly valued. October 17 - Jagger 1 Update Recent Links, Recent Sites = SERP Turmoil Google has declared war on phony (low-grade) links Devaluation of reciprocal from unrelated-subject pages Devaluation of links from "link houses" Devaluation of purchased links Big allinanchor changes Large companies thrust to the top of the SERPs Sandbox update Lowering of sandbox threshold - re-sandboxing Too fast link accumulation - links acquired too quickly Deeper sandbox (longer - over 6 months) Some suggest that one's site really had to be online before January 2004, in order to avoid all ramifications of the sandbox. Brief Google Algorithm Update List - 2006 - July - July 27 update, plus quality landing page update 2006 - Feb. - Big Daddy update 2005 - Sept. - the "False" Update (Sep.22 - Big update, many changes) 2005 - May - Bourbon Update 2005 - Febr.- Allegra Update - Feb.17, 2005, Some sites released from the sandbox, but many remain. 2004 - Feb.- Brandy Update 2004 - Jan.- Austin Update 2003 - Nov.- Florida Update 2003 - June - Esmeralda Update 2003 - May - Dominic Update 2003 - Apr. - Cassandra Update 2003 - Mar. - Boston Update Top of page

The Google Sandbox - The Single-Biggest SEO Ranking Factor for New Sites Google is clearly fighting spam by sacrificing SERP newness for higher SERP quality.
March 2004 Edited August 2006 THE GOOGLE SANDBOX The sandbox is alive and well. In March 2004, Google implemented a new filter, now referred to as "The Sandbox". This new "effect" took months to notice and quantify. The sandbox is also referred to as an "aging delay". Two aging delays have been suggested - one for link weight, and one for competitive term ranking. The sand box only applies to highly COMPETITIVE terms, revolving around money, such as the words attorney, loans, viagra, real estate, etc. The more lucrative the keyword, the longer the wait. Yahoo has a sandbox, as well. Opinion seems to indicate that the Yahoo aging delay is not quite as long as the Google Aging Delay. Yahoo does seem to provide an initial boost, that will disappear after about 4 weeks. MSN appears to have no sandbox. New sites with new pages, targeting competitive terms, can rank well very quickly (weeks) for those terms.	HOW IT WORKS If you subscribe to the spam reduction theory, Google's thinking was, NO NEW SITES get good ranking, until they prove themselves. Spammers generate thousands of new pages daily, along with millions of new links to go with them. This penalty is new-site based. Long-standing sites have no trouble ranking new pages. Link Weight Aging Delay Google WITHHOLDS "link juice" on new sites, by deprecating the new links, for 2-8 months. If the domain and backlinks have existed for a certain length of time (6 months?), then maybe you are OK, and escape from the sandbox. Over time, the newly generated links are given weight, and eventually the sandbox effect is lifted. Competitive Term Aging Delay Google WITHHOLDS high ranking ability on new sites, for highly commercial keywords, such as loans, real estate, viagra, etc. Eventually, the new site will rank well for the competitive keywords, and the sandbox effect is lifted. Six months is mentioned most frequently.	SOLUTIONS Two methods are currently being used to get around the Sandbox penalty for new sites. One method is to join the Google Ad Words or Adsense program, in which case your pages get spidered in MINUTES. Your site will be checked initially with an algo or human "smell test". If you smell good, you're in. Good rankings will follow (provided of course, that you have good on-page SEO, and a few good backlinks). I speculate that if you are a Google partner ("approved"), then you are not going to be penalized, unless you subsequently "go bad". The second method is to buy an old domain, just for it's longevity, and old backlinks. Many have bought up old domain names for this purpose. This may work right now, but the rules will soon change again. They always do. Good luck!

	Notes to the Above 120 Google Ranking Factors :
1	I have tried to summarize the best opinions of many webmaster forum posters.
2	There are no published rules - this is my continuously changing compilation of SEO chatter. This is my semi-annual, one-way technical Google ranking blog, if you will.
3	If your keywords are Rare and Unique, then Page Rank doesn't matter.
4	If your keywords are very Competitive, then Page Rank becomes very important.
5	The fewer incoming links that you have, the more important on-page factors are, for noncompetitive terms.
6	There are a million ifs, ors, buts . . . I am attempting a concise summary. Exceptions to EACH of the POSITIVE ON-Page factors are frequent and many. However, I feel that it is important to score highly on as many factors as possible, since factor weight and even factor consideration are changing constantly - CYA. Not to mention the other SEs.
7	A few words about the LANGUAGE used on the Google site - in a phrase - "soft spoken". We see it everywhere these days. I am referring to understatement, sometimes even to the point of confusion. "significant", "may", etc. For example, when Google states that maybe it might not be a good idea to do a particular thing, what they SOMETIMES really mean is "If you do it, you are history". Some Google suggestions are actually commands (STRONG HINTS) in disguise. At some point, you begin to realize this. Google just can't tell us everything, literally. Sooooooo, take the hints.
8	Become religious. Seek the light. It's there, but you gotta look. LISTEN UP! Read the rules. Read between the lines. Carefully. Differentiate. Project. Guess real hard for your situation. Webmaster Guidelines http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html How does Google rank pages? http://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html Google Facts and Fiction http://www.google.com/webmasters/facts.html Search Engine Optimizers http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html Top of page

Sources "These optimization opinions are too strong - Too much speculation - I wanna see your SEO data! ". . . OK. Here it is - Google Search Engine Optimization Forums

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